Catalog

She is a divorcee with 8 children and 7 grandchildren. Four of her children live on Majuro and two are in the United States. She lives on Ailinglaplap with her two youngest children. They live in a very small, one-room house and have two smaller thatch huts and a sitting area. They have two water catchments but no solar power. Although her former husband is a recipient of Section 177, he does not support her or their children.

She says that her life is a struggle and she is exhausted by all the hard work of producing copra: “Life is very complicated without any helper by my side.” When she has time, she makes handicrafts. Sometimes her parents help out, but at the moment they are on Majuro.

She would like a job, but there are no jobs on the island. If she had help, she could concentrate on handicrafts, which pay more than copra. However, there is no outlet to sell handicrafts on her island. So, unlike copra, she cannot exchange her handicrafts for credit from the store to buy food and other basic items. Secondly, she produces handicrafts as part of a women’s club, so the profit is shared amongst members and some is retained by the club. Yet she relies on the club to bring in orders and arrange distribution and sales.

In terms of her personal ambitions, she believes a handicraft workshop on the island could provide her with the support she needs to make and sell her own handicrafts. For her children, she wants them to finish school. She says she preaches to them all the time to do well at school and hopes that “seeing me struggle should be enough for them to realize the importance of school.”